Five Islands Bulli Black

Brewed by Illawarra Brewing Company
Style: Porter
North Wollongong, NSW, Australia

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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wayyyy better than all the other beers there i reckon. smells of fresh porridgey grain. solid black appearance with nice blotchy eggshell head. taste is licorice, molasses, coffee at first, with full malt sweetness. finish is wood, vanilla, coffee and buttered toast, along with hops spice (Willamette apparently) and clean bitterness. a real good porter.

UPDATED: JUL 13, 2005 Draught at AIBA, Melbourne. Really dark brown. Heavily roasty. Dryish with clean, rounded mouthfeel and a wealth of soapy hops. Really bitter orangey finish. Good stuff!

i have to agree with the machine that this is their best beer at 5 islands. it's much sweeter than most dark beers around here but makes up for it by actually having tasty hop finish which is unusual for a dark beer in australia. aroma is of honey and rye, it's as black as the coal from bulli and has a bit of the vanilla ice cream mouthfeel that i really like in dark beers

A slightly cloudy dark brown with a tight creamy head. Smells like tiramisu, with some roasted notes beneath, reminding me of the Wig & Pen Velvet Cream. Well balanced flavour that is slightly on the bitter side. Very easy drinking, and possibly a good sessional, but the palate lets it down a touch with a lightish body.

2005 AIBA Sample Very dark black indeed. Caramel aroma which carries over to the flavor. Finishes with a woody bitterness, like an english beer. Would like to see (and taste) more of this one.

New beer and formulation since Sept 2008, new brewer Andrew Gow. Richs dark malt palate and flavour.

On tap at the brewpub. Pours a very dark brown, almost black, with a small beige head. Not much carbonation, strong coffee and roasted malt aroma. Flavours are bitter coffee, tobacco, leather and roasted malt. Was better as it warmed up.

Well this one reminded me of a Tooheys Old. Best head retention of the first three beers I have tried. Some dirty cigarette ash, milky aroma and a little chocolatey, but a beer I sometimes session out on.

A solid porter marred only by overly spritzy carbonation, IMO. Hazy jet black with a fair cap of caffe latte suds. Loved the aroma, which was a coffee addict’s dream - tiramisu or perhaps a coffee liqueur. Strong, sweet and alcoholic - in fact, this smelled like a much strong beer. Fairly thin in the body, which would be fine were it not for the aggressive carbonation, in this batch at least. Nice sweet mix of licorice and milky coffee. (Draught at Australian Hotel beer festival, Sydney, 2006)

The best beer availible at the FIBC by a long way. Was the only beer that was worth finishing. Reminiscent of a tooheys old, but with additional chocolate and burnt toffee notes.